The Combat Studies Institute (CSI) is pleased to present its latest publication in the Occasional Paper Series, "We Have Not Learned How to Wage War There" The Soviet Approach in Afghanistan,1979-1989, by Mr. Matt Matthews. For this work, Mr. Matthews collected a wide variety of sources on the subject, many of them of primary accounts, and used these materials to provide an overview of the evolution of the Soviet operational approach in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989. This Soviet experience offers a number of useful insights for American military professionals who are, as of this writing, conducting operations in Afghanistan. Mr. Matthews begins his study by examining the Soviets' planning for its invasion of Afghanistan and initial goals for that campaign. The author then looks closely at how the Soviets adapted their tactics and organization to meet the committed and resilient insurgent threat that emerged to do battle against Soviet forces. Despite conventional interpretations of this campaign in Afghanistan which emphasize the rigidity of Soviet methods, Matthews' study suggests that the Soviets were flexible in their overall approach. The Soviet government did, for example, launch nation-building initiatives that would look familiar to American military officers who served in Afghanistan in the first decade of the 21st century. These efforts, however, were seriously hindered by a Soviet military culture that opposed a more comprehensive campaign to foster a popular central Afghan government. Matthews concludes his study by examining Soviet operations to extract their forces from Afghanistan while nonetheless leaving a viable, if not popular, Afghan government in place.

At the time of this writing, the United States and the other members of the international security assistance forces are completing nearly a decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. What started as more conventional or tradition fights has degenerated over time into insurgency warfare, something U.S. forces have had to re-learn and re-build to fight.

This technology project focuses on the Korean War from the U.S. Air Force perspective. It details the start of the war and possible causes. It outlines major players in the war to include President Truman, FEC Commanders MacArthur, Ridgway, and Clark, and FEAF Commanders Stratemeyer and Weyland. The product then chronicles major events of the war in time slices from one month to two years long. Major operations discussed include: the Inchon landing, maintenance of the Pusan Perimeter, the railway interdiction campaign, Operation Strangle, and Operation Saturate. The product lists and compares aircraft in the opposing air forces. It ends with lessons learned from the Korean War.

This unofficial military guide was written from the perspective of an Iraq combat infantryman's viewpoint. It presents a unique view of the war on terrorism that many categories of readers will find fascinating and highly informative: Those planning to enlist in any military branch with a unit likely to be deployed in a combat zone or recently enlisted in such a unit will find this unofficial military guide to be a treasure trove of tips that could prevent loss of pay grade, and maybe even their life. Also, survivalists, campers, military enthusiasts/history buffs, and those interested in getting an up-front-and-personal perspective of what really went on in Iraq, will find this special report of great interest.

The author explains why North Korea, though impoverished, nevertheless feels compelled to spend enormous amounts of its scarce resources on developing nuclear bombs and missiles capable of being delivered to the US, or at least to US allies. To most Americans this seems slightly bizarre. But Paone's conclusion is that North Korea is quite rational - it simply wants to DETER the US from doing the same thing as it did during the Korea War: killing three to six million Koreans; burning down hundreds of villages, towns and cities; and leaving behind tens of thousands to live the rest of their lives without limbs or with napalm deformed bodies. We in the US may have only vague recollections of the 36,000 Americans killed or the 93,000 wounded in that war; but the Koreans vividly remember their millions of dead and the countless deformed survivors. Paone sets forth his explanation primarily through American military-oriented sources; the diaries of US Generals; over 200 photos of war scenes taken by US Army and US Air Force personnel; daily Press Releases from General Douglas MacArthur's Command in Tokyo and finally American newspaper accounts.

WT Naud's book is a humorous heart-felt M*A*S*H type account of the unconventional lives of CODEBREAKERS fighting the Korean War from the back lines in OJI-JAPAN. Using his NEW YORK STREET SMARTS, Naud managed to serve his country with the help of the SON OF A MAFIA DON, seventeen EX-KAMIKAZE WAITERS, Tokyo's infamous BLACK MARKET SAM, twenty stunning MISS TOKYO CONTESTANTS, rigged BINGO GAMES, a bag full of GOLF CLUBS and a breathtaking JAPANESE GIRL with COBALT-BLUE EYES. Underlying the M*A*S*H type antics that kept him from getting shipped to the FRONT LINES, is a compassionate story of the devastation the JAPANESE PEOPLE experienced during WWII and five years later we find a country still pockmarked with physical and emotional scars. "Though I was more akin to BUGS BUNNY than JAMES BOND, I had somehow managed to end up in the ASA, the ARMY SECURITY AGENCY, an organization so SECRET it denied it's own existence. "At OJI, the most SENSITIVE ASA BASE in the FAR-EAST, COMMUNIST SPY-GIRLS were luring GI'S into TRYSTS to get TOP-SECRET DECODED information about MACARTHUR'S WAR PLANS. I was CHARGED with STOPPING them. CODEBREAKERS were turning up DEAD... A beautiful ORIENTAL COMMUNIST RECRUITER wanted to seduce me.... My FIRST SERGEANT wanted to kill me... The JAPANESE BLACK MARKETEERS wanted me to stop screwing up their business... My best friend, the SON OF A MAFIA DON, kept trying to SHOOT himself so he wouldn't get SHOT fighting on the front lines..... All I wanted to do was PLAY GOLF and stay out of the TRENCHES in KOREA... AND IT'S ALL TRUE " "Treat yourself to a large dose of Entertainment, Humor and Human Drama. WT Naud's book is better than M*A*S*H because it all really happened I've known every character in the book." Peter Marshall/ MC Hollywood Squares "Oji is the culmination of a writing career in a styleof wit and wisdom that's well worth reading." Joel D. Swanson/ Writer for Network Series including the Dick Van Dyck Show and Mayberry Rfd.

In Fallujah, during a particularly difficult time in the Iraq War, a group of Marines are deployed on a tour that will bring them closer together, while threatening to tear them apart. The Delta Company Outlaws are a group of Light Armored Reconnaissance Marines deployed in 2004 to one of the most hostile war zones in the world. Through the memoirs of one Marine, this touching story encapsulates the drama surrounding everyday life during the Iraq War. With a bond formed through blood, sweat, and tears, a group of unfamiliar Marines will come together stronger than family. Memoirs of an Outlaw: Life in the Sandbox is a dramatic new take on the Iraq War that focuses more on the personal aspects of war rather than exclusively on combat. With a touching approach to the camaraderie, daily life, and devastating losses, this enlightening memoir by Robert M. Tanner delves into the brotherhood that's formed throughout a deployment while documenting the combat experiences and daily life of a Marine. Using personal experiences, this engaging story hooks readers with drama, action, and honesty while painting an illuminating picture of both the funny and tragic sides of war. Inspired by a bond that's stronger than blood, Memoirs of an Outlaw began as a therapeutic way to document wartime experiences and eventually led to a full-fledged memoir. Deciding to focus on the daily life and camaraderie of war, the story captures the tension, drama, and bonding that comes with combat and living in a hostile environment far away from home. By focusing on the humanistic side of the armed forces, Memoirs of an Outlaw perfectly captures a unique moment in time during an extraordinarily challenging part of the war.

The lightning campaign that toppled the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq in the spring of 2003 seemed to herald the arrival of a new way of war, as Germany's blitzkrieg had done at the beginning of World War II. But the initial victory soon devolved into a persistent counterinsurgency conflict reminiscent of the long U.S. effort to pacify the Philippines after the rapid defeat of Spain in 1898. In Iraq, American soldiers and their Coalition partners had merely traded one fairly weak and generally conventional opponent for a more deadly, diverse, and determined foe relying on the tactics of the guerrilla and the terrorist. This volume focuses on that second and longer campaign. But rather than a narrative of the overall course of the conflict, it provides a soldier's-eye view of the war by focusing on detailed accounts of selected engagements. Each illustrates the everyday challenges that America's soldiers faced in a difficult struggle against an inventive and often elusive enemy. Weapons, doctrine, and procedures developed to fight a conventional campaign against a similar opposing force had to be adapted to fit a different type of conflict. The U.S. Army's combat and support forces brought both resourcefulness and resilience to this task while continuing to demonstrate the same courage shown by previous generations fighting the nation's battles. These stories not only symbolize the tip of the spear formed by units in contact, but they also represent the contributions of all American men and women who have served their country in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Taken together, these accounts will provide our deploying leaders and soldiers a better understanding of the environment that they will encounter and prepare them for the work that must be done.

This bibliography comprises unclassified publication dealing in whole or significant part with Marine Corps operations and related matters in the Korean War.

The thesis which Col. MacDonald authored has had a remarkable and continuing influence on the many Department of Defense studies of prisoners of war since it was written. This print, appearing as it did in 1961, includes some minor errata changes for the use of the serious student of the POW experience and as a reference source for interested libraries

This anthology presents a collection of 21 articles describing the full range of U.S. Marine Corps operations in Iraq from 2004 to 2008. During this period, the Marines conducted a wide variety of kinetic and non-kinetic operations as they fought to defeat the Iraq insurgency, build stability, and lay the groundwork for democratic governance. The selections in this collection include journalistic accounts, scholarly essays, and Marine Corps summaries of action. Our intent is to provide a general overview to educate Marines and the general public about this critical period in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps, the United States, and Iraq. Many of the conclusions are provisional and are being updated and revised as new information and archival resources become available. The accompanying annotated bibliography provides a detailed overview of where current scholarship on this period currently stands. The editor of this anthology, Nicholas J. Schlosser, earned his doctorate in history from the University of Maryland in 2008 and has worked as a historian with the Marine Corps History Division since 2009. His research examines U.S. Marine Corps operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom, focusing on irregular warfare, counterinsurgency operations, and the al-Anbar Awakening

This book is a Black and White (Grayscale) "REPRINT" . "Although events did not afford the Marines an opportunity to engage the enemy in heavy combat, their contribution in southern Afghanistan was nonetheless significant. From a strategic perspective, the arrival of a sizable conventional force demonstrated America's resolve to confront the sponsors of terrorism directly and signaled an end to Taliban rule. From an operational perspective, Task Force 58 successfully blocked the western escape route from Kandahar and threatened the enemy's last remaining urban stronghold. As Lieutenant General Gregory S. Newbold, former director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, later observed: The insertion of Task Force 58 had a deep psychological impact on the Taliban and al-Qaeda-they were confronted with a military situation which now unhinged any hope they had for a gradual pullback from the north and a chance to hold from their area of greatest strength. . . . The insertion of Task Force 58 fundamentally changed the equation for the enemy from one of grim hope to hopelessness.1 The strategic agility and operational reach showcased by the Navy amphibious squadrons and Marine expeditionary units validated the utility of task-organized expeditionary forces, particularly in respect to the effectiveness of long-range, ship-to-objective maneuver. These combined achievements contributed directly to the subsequent deployment of expeditionary strike groups in 2003. As a result, today's naval services are now in a better position to address emerging crises around the globe, regardless of whether they occur in littoral or landlocked regions of the world." Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer Director of Marine Corps History

Both inspiring and heartbreaking, Lessons From A Young Soldier's Life is the fascinating true adventure story of Captain Sean Grimes, RN, PA-C, U.S. Army, the first U.S. military Physician Assistant killed in combat. It is great reading for men and women and teenagers will enjoy it, too. March 4, 2005 starts out as just another day Sean has to survive being shot at and bombed by the enemy before he can go home on leave to New York City. The highlight of his leave will be taking his girlfriend to Times Square and asking her to marry him. Before flying to New York City Sean first has to survive another day being a Physician Assistant for U.S. soldiers and Marines in the violent Anbar Province of Iraq. Sean brought to the battlefield medical skills and experience equal to that of an emergency room doctor back in the U.S. The troops knew that having "Doc Grimes" on patrol with them meant they had a better chance of surviving when they were shot or bombed. After many twists and turns, the ending of the story hinges on a fateful decision Sean made when his unit first deployed to Iraq: the decision to leave the relative safety of his base camp to go out on combat patrols and night raids with the soldiers of the Scout Platoon. Sean doesn't have to put himself in harms way on these patrols but he does because of his desire to better care for "his" soldiers when they are wounded. Sean overcame growing up in a troubled household before moving on to experience adventures around the globe. He was a soldier who, even after finding the woman of his dreams, volunteered to go to the war in Iraq to serve his country and, more importantly, serve the soldiers and Marines in his area of operations. Sean is a virtual poster child for the opportunities the U.S. military offers to members interested in medicine. Right out of high school he decides to put off college for a year and enlists in the Army Reserve and is trained as a Medic at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Sean then receives an ROTC scholarship at Michigan State University and becomes a Registered Nurse and an Army officer. His first assignment as an officer is in Germany as an Army Nurse at the large U.S. Army Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. While stationed there he is deployed to U.N. peacekeeping duty in Kosovo where he accompanies infantry patrols into the war torn civilian towns. It is on these patrols that Sean discovers his true career calling- going into harm's way with soldiers to provide world class medical care. To be able to go into direct combat with U.S. troops Sean has to make the difficult career decision to leave nursing and apply for a coveted spot in the world renown U.S. Department of Defense Physician Assistant program held at Ft. Sam Houston. He is accepted to the program and graduates 2nd in his class. This soldier's story of bravery and sacrifice is one that can represent the story of thousands of American military men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This monograph tells the story of more than 3,600 U.S. Marines who supported Operation Provide Comfort, an international relief effort in northern Iraq from 7 April to 15 July 1991. The author presents historical glimpses of the Kurds, modern Iraq, and non-marine activities in order to provide background information. This work is one of a series about U.S. Marine operations in the Persian Gulf.

This official U.S. Marine Corps history provides unique information about an important aspect of the Korean War. Some of the subjects included in this history: Major General Field Harris, Colonel Lewis B. Chesty Puller, Major General Oliver P. Smith, 1st Marine Division, General Douglas MacArthur, President Truman, USS Mount McKinley, Wolmi-Do, the drive to Kimpo, amphibious assault, DUKWs.

The sacrifice of the "Glorious Glosters" in defense of the Imjin River line and the hilltop fights of Australian and Canadian battalions in the Kapyong Valley have achieved greater renown in those nations than any other military action since World War II. This book is the first to compare in depth what happened and why. Using official and unofficial source material ranging from personal interviews to war diaries, this study seeks to disentangle the mythology surrounding both battles and explain why events unfolded as they did. Based on thorough familiarity with all available sources, many not previously utilized, it sheds new light on fighting "the forgotten war."

Chronicles the role of the United States Marines in the defense of the Pusan Perimeter and their part in the expansion of United Nations forces in the Korean War. Captain John C. Chapin earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors in history from Yale University in 1942 and was commissioned later that year. He served as a rifle-platoon leader in the 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, and was wounded in action in World War II during assault landings on Roi-Namur and Saipan.

In August 1990, Iraqi military forces invaded the neighboring nation of Kuwait. The invasion was part of an expansionist foreign policy that President Saddam Hussein established a decade earlier when he invaded post-revolution Iran. The Iraqi invasion of Iran failed, degenerating into a decade long war of attrition, but Kuwait was an easier target. Kuwait had financed the Iraq-Iran War for Iraq, but refused to forgive the debt, and Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing oil from the Rumalia Oil Field. Much smaller than Iran in terms of population and geography, Kuwait had focused its foreign and defense policies on negotiation and compromise rather than military force; inevitably, the large Iraqi Army quickly overwhelmed the small Kuwaiti armed forces. Inside Kuwait, Iraqi troops began wholesale pillaging as security forces moved to remove all those loyal to the Kuwaiti royal family. Iraq declared that Kuwait was now a province, thus eliminating its debt and adding extensive oil fields to its own. Saddam stationed conscript infantry divisions in Kuwait and began building extensive defenses along the Kuwaiti-Saudi border. While Saddam calculated the military balance between Iraq and Kuwait correctly, he underestimated the willingness of the world community, especially the United States and Great Britain, to intervene on Kuwait's behalf. His invasion set the stage for a military confrontation that was larger in scope than any similar circumstance since the Cold War. Under President George H.W. Bush, the United States assembled a global coalition of concerned nations, first to defend Saudi Arabia against further Iraqi aggression, and then to eject the Iraqi military from Kuwait. Early in this "Gulf War" American military commanders designated the operation to protect Saudi Arabia "Desert Shield," and the successive operation to free Kuwait "Desert Storm." These military operations were massive undertakings, and they highlighted the paradigm shift from superpowers in precarious equilibrium during the Cold War to American global hegemony in the 1990s.

This is a true story that is both tragic and bizarre. It's tragic because a young twenty-two-year-old serviceman, married and with an infant son back home, died in Korea during the Korean War. It's bizarre because a fellow serviceman with whom he'd been stationed at two different locations was one of the witnesses at the shooting that took his life. Then that witness later married the man's widow and adopted his son. Even though they had a church wedding, nobody from either family showed up. Very unusual. Exactly twenty years to the day after the young serviceman died in Korea, his twenty-year-old son had a near-death experience in Vietnam. The son grew up not knowing his biological father's name, his branch of service, how, when, or where he died, or what he looked like, until he was almost fifty-eight years old. Then fate stepped in and provided him with a reason to investigate into the past. What he found out will astound you as much as it did him.

Merriam Press Military Monograph 127. Second Edition (2012). This book is about the experience of one soldier, Bill Cain, his family, and the 42nd Field Artillery Brigade. Bill and his wife, Renee, were among those affected greatly by this historic event. His book, Crossing the Line, is based on their experiences, fears, and concerns during that time. Renee was eight months pregnant when Bill deployed to Saudi Arabia as the Brigade Intelligence Officer for the 42nd Field Artillery Brigade (attached to Seventh Corps). Soldiers of the 42nd played a key role in winning the fight in Kuwait, giving the Corps Commander the flexibility to mass fires all across the fight. With the subsequent events of 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, Desert Storm has dropped from view. In this book, Bill Cain resurrects the story of Desert Shield/Desert Storm and demonstrates the significance that it played in the changing and dangerous world in which we live and how it helped create the conditions that exist in the world today. This book will bring back memories, arouse emotions, and reinforce the patriotism and valor of our soldiers and their families. Contents: Dedication; Acknowledgments; Foreword; Prologue; D-Minus: The Road to "The Storm"; Chapter 1: The Clouds Gather; Chapter 2: Farewell to V Corps; Chapter 3: Welcome to Saudi Arabia; Chapter 4: Phase II - The Air War (18-25 February); Chapter 5: Phase III - The Deception Plan (26 January-15 February); Chapter 6: Phase IV - The Breach (16-24 February); Chapter 7: Phase V - The "End Around" and Exploitation (25-26 February); Chapter 8: Phase VI - Destruction of the Republican Guard (27-28 February); Chapter 9: Phase VII - Defense of Northern Kuwait (1-9 March); Chapter 10: The Waiting Game; Chapter 11: Coming Home; Chapter 12: Reunited at Last; Chapter 13: Gulf War Syndrome ... Saddam's Revenge?; Chapter 14: The World Has Changed; Chapter 15: Taps; Military Glossary; 57 photos; 2 maps specially commissioned for this book.

At the time it was fought, the war in Korea was unique in recent American military experience. Unlike World Wars I and II, which were vigorously prosecuted on the battlefield until the enemy surrendered unconditionally, the Korean conflict ended without clear-cut military victory for either side. It was fought with limited means for limited objectives. In fact, political efforts to resolve the conflict at the negotiating table predominated during the last two years of the conflict. During this period, neither side sought a decision by military means. The conflict in Korea also was an important milestone in the "cold war" relations between the Communist and non-Communist nations. By launching an unprovoked attack on a militarily insignificant country located in an area where none of their vital interests were involved, the Communists appeared to leaders of the non-Communist states to be giving proof of their aggressive designs for world domination. As a result, the United States reversed the policy of reducing its military establishment and launched an impressive expansion of its armed forces. At the same time, the United States joined with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partners to create a military command for the alliance and to incorporate German forces in it. In the Far East, the United States also acted to shore up the defenses of the non-Communist world by entering into treaties with Australia and New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and Nationalist China. The Korean War provided the first wartime test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acting as part of the machinery set up by the National Security Act of 1947 and its 1949 amendment. In this capacity, they provided strategic direction to the United Nations (UN) forces in the field and were the agency by with President Truman exercised overall control of war strategy. When the focus shifted from combat to armistice negotiations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff continued to play an active role. They participated in all the key decisions taken during negotiations, and they provided the channel of communications between the Government in Washington and Commander in Chief, United Nations Command (CINCUNC), and his armistice negotiating team in Korea. The focus of this volume is, naturally, on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But as they were not acting in a vacuum, it has been necessary to describe the context in which they functioned. To this end, the actions of the President and the Secretaries of State and Defense concerning overall military strategy and armistice negotiations have been described in some detail. In addition, the consequences of these actions, on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, have been sketched in broad outline.

The U.S. used its armored ground forces with devastating effect in DESERT STORM - the last major land campaign of the 20th century. Tuskers is the story of 4-64 armor battalion, a U.S. tank battalion at the tip of the devastating assault on the Iraqi army. The Tuskers were part of the 24th Infantry Division, the first mechanized division to deploy to Saudi Arabia as part of the DESERT SHIELD defense. After months of preparing in the desert, they led the sweeping left flank attack into the Euphrates River Valley - an attack that went farther and faster than any ground attack in the history of warfare. The Tuskers attacked through the Iraqi 26th Commando Brigade and into the Republican Guards logistics area astride Highway 8 near An Nasiriyah. After severing the Iraqi army's escape route to Baghdad, they continued east on Highway 8 to the the outskirts of Basra. In the final battle of the war, the Tuskers destroyed much of the Iraqi Republican Guards Nebuchadnezzar division as it attempted to escape across the Euphrates River. "Tuskers" is a narrative that describes the unit's deployment, preparation for combat, and their overwhelming success in combat. It focuses primarily at the battalion and company level, detailing not only the actions taking place, but also the thoughts of the men behind the guns as they face combat for the first time.

"In the Wake of the Surge" is a gripping first-person narrative that tells the story of the Kurds, the Arabs, and the Americans in Iraq during one of the most violent and wrenching periods in that country's history. Award-winning foreign correspondent Michael J. Totten visited Iraq seven times between 2005 and 2009, first as a "unilateral" freelance journalist without a gun in the Kurdish autonomous region, and then as an embedded reporter with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps in Baghdad, Sadr City, Ramadi, and Fallujah.

He was there at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of General David Petraeus' "surge" of combat troops to Iraq and saw first-hand how young men from places like Florida and Texas pacified a relentless insurgency-an insurgency that most people, during the darkest days of the war, assumed would be victorious.

"In the Wake of the Surge" is a bracing story of war in a tormented country by a writer who has spent enough time in the Middle East to know there are few happy endings, but who nevertheless was a witness when Iraqis and Americans drove each other to the brink of the abyss before managing, against all odds and at the very last second, to pull back and save themselves from utter catastrophe.

Praise for Michael J. Totten

"I think of only a certain number of people as having risen to the intellectual and journalistic challenges of the last few years, and Michael J. Totten is one of them." - Paul Berman, author of "Terror and Liberalism"

"Michael J. Totten...practices journalism in the tradition of Orwell: morally imaginative, partisan in the best sense of the word, and delivered in crackling, rapid-fire prose befitting the violent realities it depicts. An unabashed classical liberal, Totten brings his political commitments and emotional intelligence to bear on the dramatic events he witnesses. As a result, he ends up far more clearsighted than the many analysts who claim 'objectivity' but share neither his love of the region and its inhabitants nor his concern for its future." - Sohrab Ahmari, "Commentary"

"Michael J. Totten is a one of a rare breed. Moving from front to front, he brings experience and context and the willingness to go where few men dare." - Michael Yon, author of "Moment of Truth in Iraq"

"Michael J. Totten, to my mind, is one of the world's most acute observers of Middle East politics. He is also an absolutely fearless reporter, both physically-he has explored the darkest corners of Middle East extremism-and morally." - Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror"

Praise for "The Road to Fatima Gate"

"A terrific book about a terrifying and beautiful part of the world." - Benjamin Kerstein, "Jewish Ideas Daily" columnist

"It is extremely rare to read such an accurate account of anything to which one was oneself a witness." - Christopher Hitchens, author of "God is Not Great"

"A thriller in which a daredevil reporter puts himself in harm's way in search of the inside story of some of the most dangerous outfits in the world." - Amir Taheri, "Asharq al-Awsat"

"Outstanding...it grabbed me so quickly that I ended up lost in it." - Claire Berlinski, "Ricochet"

Robert "Bobby" Washkowiak battles his way through the first bitter winter of the Korean War longing for home, his wife and newborn son. Fifty years later, his son and grandson come across his wartime letters and together, they try to find out what happened to Bobby on one of the battlefields of that forgotten war.